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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {